Check you work?

As I prepare to send off my manuscript proposals to agents with much hope, sweat, and tears, I’m reminded of my husband’s favorite saying, “Check you work.” And as with any crazy statement in life, how could it not have a fun story behind it?

At the time of creation of such an infamous statement, my husband was a young engineer at his firm always looking for opportunities to make a good impression, to stand out from the crowd, but little did he know he would do just that. His company decided to launch a competition to see who could come up with a new, impressive, company slogan they could use the following year. And of course, his interest was piqued.

Being the clever man that he is, he decided to use a saying he learned from his high school physics teacher with a twist of his own:

The road to success is paved with the bodies of the weak. Check you work.

It wasn’t until after he had submitted the entry that he realized he had misspelled “your”. He had forgotten the ‘r’. In a nutshell, he hadn’t checked his work.

Well, the inevitable t-shirt was made and “check you work” has now found its place in company lore with the other greats, and without a doubt, a living joke in our household.

So, as I laugh and think back, I’m meticulously reading my proposal because in the writing world professionalism is king. Thank goodness for all the other great writers, agents, and editors who have taken the time to provide outstanding articles we can use to prepare for submissions. Here’s a great one by Jeff Gerke I found on the internet that breaks down a good proposal. And as always, check the agent’s websites for specifics on submissions.

Happy writing!